Men's Golf

Bonnies Reclaim Leo Keenan Invitational Title

Sep 17, 2012

OLEAN, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure golf team used steady performances from co-medalist Josh Stauffer, Brian McKenna and Scott Brady to win the Leo Keenan Invitational by an impressive 13 shots on Monday afternoon.

Each member of the SBU trio finished among the 10 top individuals as the host Bonnies posted a two-round team score of 583 at the par-70, 6,380-yard Bartlett Country Club. St. Bonaventure carded a 291 on Monday – one shot better than it achieved in the first round – en route to winning its 15th team title in the 24th playing of the tournament. The Bonnies' last Keenan championship came in 2010.

Defending champion Robert Morris and Humber College (Canada) tied for second at 596. St. Bonaventure started the day with a seven-stroke lead.

Stauffer carded identical rounds of 2-over par 72 during the 36-hole tournament to lead St. Bonaventure's individuals with a 144. The reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week posted four birdies – three over the final nine holes – to finish the final round tied for the lead with Long Island's Josh Waters. The LIU senior captured medalist honors by winning a five-hole playoff that was decided when he sunk a birdie putt on No. 18.

McKenna used two birdies over his final three holes to register a 73 in the final round. The consisitent senior had a 72 in the first round and tied for third place at 145. Brady, meanwhile, backed up a 72 in the opening round with a 76 to finish tied for ninth at 158.

St. Bonaventure's Darren Simons and Patrick Milkovich, and LIU's Waters each shot 2-under 70 on Monday, which tied for the low rounds of the tournament.

Simons made a 10-shot improvement over his first-round 80 to tie for 18th overall at 150. The redshirt freshman produced an eagle and two birdies during a round that tied for his low on the year. Milkovich, playing as an individual, made three birdies and improved on his opening round by 13 shots.

Senior Greg Horvath added a 78 on Monday for the Bonnies to finish at 154 for the tournament. Competing as individuals, Daniel Dunnigan finished with a (77-78) 155 and Chris Mackey carded a (77-82) 159.

Humber recorded the low-round team score for the tournament with a 290 on Monday to tie for tournament runner-up honors with Robert Morris. Long Island placed fourth with a 600 and Drexel finished fifth with a 602 in the eight-team event. La Salle (609), the University of Ottawa (618) and Niagara (630) rounded out the team scoring.

Eleven golfers finished within four shots of the leaders. Humber's Brian Bell finished tied for third with McKenna at 145, while Humber's Alex Dumais and Niagara's Michael Jiggins tied for fourth at 146.
Notes: The par-5, 500-yard 14th hole was the only hole to play under par for the tournament … the par-5, 560-yard second hole proved to be the most challenging, playing to a 6.02 tournament average … the Bonnies led the field in par-3 scoring (plus-12), par-4 scoring (plus-22) and total pars (101) … Robert Morris led the way with two eagles and 26 birdies … SBU was second to RMU with 24 birdies … Stauffer finished at plus-1 on both par-3 and par-4 holes … Stauffer and Milkovich posted 22 pars, which tied for second behind Humber's Dumais, who had 25 … Stauffer also collected seven birdies, second to the eight carded by Robert Morris' Robert Prokay … the tournament featured eight eagles, five coming on No. 14.